Lord John Prescott

Speaker

Lord John Prescott was Britain's longest serving Deputy Prime Minister, and a key player in the Blair government. Few people can speak about leadership, politics and policy making with as much authority.

Expertise

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John Prescott was Britain's longest serving Deputy Prime Minister, and a key player in the Tony Blair and Gordon Brown government. His most significant achievement was to lead negotiations with 120 nations at Kyoto, resulting in the first treaty on climate change.

John started out as a Cunard ship's steward and union official, John Prescott rose to power via a degree in economics and a spell in the European Parliament. Throughout the period of modernisation, he maintained his core beliefs and his popularity with the party's grassroots.

As well as his work with Al Gore on the international stage, John Prescott is widely credited for managing sometimes strained relationships around the Cabinet table. He is also recognised for his keen interest in regeneration, and continues to advise the Chinese government on their plans to build a thousand new 'sustainable' cities.

Lord John Prescott is also known for a number of controversial episodes - not least his passion for Jaguar cars and the punch he threw at a farmer during an election campaign. From his early days serving pink gins through to his private dinners with Brown and Blair, 'Prezza' has a rich fund of anecdotes.